Save Kolymbithres – Dedicated to preserving Kolymbithres' heritage

Save Kolymbithres is a group of citizens dedicated to preserving Kolymbithres’ heritage in all its aspects, including its landscape, flora and fauna, and history.

To this end, we have been working since 2021 to stop the large-scale development project by the company EKTER on the west side of the hills of Kolymbithres.

This project is still in the planning stage, though various bodies have already given their approval. The island council initially opposed it in 2016, approved it in 2017, and the current council opposes it once again.

In response to the opposition from us and many others, EKTER greatly reduced the size of its plan as of summer 2026.

However, even this scaled-down project will be deeply detrimental to the entire area. It will permanently destroy its hitherto pristine nature, block access to untouched archaeological and historical remains in the ground, and transform Kolymbithres’ unique beauty into a tourism hotspot.

In June 2022, our group filed an appeal with the Greek Council of State against the positive decision of the Ministry of Antiquities. We believe that this decision is completely unwarranted by the facts on the ground. The appeal proceedings are now scheduled to take place on 30 September 2026.

In August 2022, we wrote a detailed rebuttal against another decision and organized an online petition that quickly gathered more than 2,500 signatures — making it one of the most successful petitions on the island of Paros.

>> The rebuttal you find here

It remains our firm policy to file further appeals if and when additional questionable approvals are granted by any relevant body.

Accordingly, at our latest in-person meeting on 8 September 2026 on Paros, we decided to prepare and file yet another appeal with the Greek Council of State, this time targeting the approval of the smaller project.

Once that approval is officially published, there is a 60-day window to file an appeal, which we are fully prepared to do.

We are committed to exploring all legal options, as well as all technical, environmental, economic, and infrastructural arguments to prevent irreversible harm — we will stop only when this project stops.

As a group of local stakeholders dedicated to driving real change and protecting the community and area to which we are deeply connected, we operate as an informal collective rather than an incorporated association. Our (moderate) costs consist exclusively of legal and court fees, which we split equally on a per-household basis. We primarily meet virtually and make decisions by majority vote, which is usually unanimous.

If you share our vision and wish to work with us toward these goals, please contact us at info@save-kolymbithres.eu

Though we have a very good chance to win, as of now no significant progress has taken place since the summer in relation to our appeal. We are in contact with the lawyer who follows the case. The date of discussion of the appeal in the Council of State has not been determined yet.
Also, till now there is no progress in the procedure of approval of the SEIA study (Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment) by the Ministry. The relevant Directorate is waiting to receive the feedback by several Authorities, which had been asked for their opinion.
One of these Authorities is the Regional Council of South Aegean. We were informed the last moment that the issue would be discussed in the Council on October 31st and under strong time pressure we sent our arguments to all members of the Council. Unfortunately, the Council approved the SEIA. We were informed that political pressure had been exercised on the members of the majority to approve the SEIA and the project.
Two remarks on the above:
a) This approval does not have an important impact on the final decision. Even if it were negative, it might not affect the result, as it is a non-binding opinion.
b) The member of the majority in the Council Costas Bizas from Paros voted against the project. Note that Costas Bizas will be a candidate as a Mayor in the Municipal Elections of 2023.
The Municipality of Paros was also asked for an opinion on the SEIA study of the project. The Mayor did not even bring the issue for a discussion in the Municipal Council, claiming that it had approved the project in an earlier session. He was told that this is a different thing, as they had to express their opinion on the SEIA study and not the project itself, but this didn’t make a difference.
We did not expect a different attitude by the local Authorities, as they are under political pressure to approve it. Our hopes lie on the Council of State, which repeatedly rejects similar developments on the ground of lack of bearing capacity studies that it considers as a prerequisite for accepting such projects. Important examples: In April 2022 the Council of State rejected even the extension of town planning borderlines of Paros settlements as it was not supported by bearing capacity studies. And the same happened with a big hotel in Mykonos.
Overall, our plan should not change and we have a very good chance to win. What we have to do is to follow closely the case and whenever the SEIA is finally approved by the Ministry to appeal again to the Council of State, this time against that approval. Our group will again have to pay money, but this is the only way to stop it.